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Home » Themes » Conflict » World War One
Lone Pine Print Page 
The Lone Pine tree commemorates those who fought in the Battle of Lone Pine during World War One and is planted in remembrance of those who have served in conflicts in which Australia has been involved.
The Lone Pine was the name given to a solitary tree on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, which marked the site of the Battle of Lone Pine in 1915 during World War One and it was the sole survivor of a group of trees that had been cut down by Turkish soldiers who had used the timber and branches to cover their trenches.
The tree was obliterated during the battle; however, pine cones that had remained attached to the cut branches over the trenches were retrieved by two Australian soldiers and brought home to Australia. Private Thomas Keith McDowell, a soldier of the 23rd Battalion brought a pine cone from the battle site back to Australia, and many years later seeds from the cone were planted by his wife's aunt Emma Gray of Grassmere, near Warrnambool, Victoria and five seedlings emerged, with four surviving. These seedlings were planted in four different locations in Victoria: Wattle Park (May 8, 1933), the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne (June 11, 1933), the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The Sisters near Terang (June 18, 1933) and Warrnambool Botanic Gardens (January 23, 1934).
Another soldier, Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith from the 3rd Battalion, also retrieved a cone and sent it back to his mother (Mrs McMullen) in Australia, who had lost another son at the battle. Seeds from the cone were planted by Mrs McMullen in 1928, from which two seedlings were raised. One was presented to her home town of Inverell (New South Wales) and the other was forwarded to Canberra where it was planted by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester at the Australian War Memorial in October 1934.
The Shrine of Remembrance's lone pine was felled in August 2012 and the timber used as part of a remembrance project, after a disease known as Diplodia pinea or blue stains fungus as it commonly called killed it.
Melbourne Legacy and the Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra have grown seedlings sourced from the trees at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Australian War Memorial respectively, which they have presented to schools as well as ex-service and other organisations throughout Australia.
Location
| Address: | Brighton & Scholefield Roads, Seacliff, 5049 |
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| State: | SA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -35.037895 Long: 138.524429 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Tree |
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| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | Multiple |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Thursday 11th November, 1999 |
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Aleppo Pine Pinus Halepensis
The A.I.F. Attack On And Holding Of Lone Pine Ridge
Gallipoli, August 1915
After severe fighting, members of the Australian Imperial Force on 6 August 1915 took the high and strategic Lone Pine Ridge. Several days of extremely heavy Turkish counter-attacking followed. Over 2,000 and 7,000 Australian and Turkish soldiers were killed. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross.
An Australian soldier who took part in the action, in which his brother was killed, took a cone from one of the Pine tree logs used by the Turks as overhead cover for their trenches. He later sent it to his mother. From a seed shed by this cone she grew a seedling Pine tree.
In 1934 the Duke of Gloucester planted this tree in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra in memory of the Australians who fell at Lone Pine. The tree growing here was raised from seed taken from the original tree in Canberra.
It was planted on Remembrance Day, 11 November 1999, in memory of all persons who served in defence of Australia, in particular those who paid the supreme sacrifice.
Lest We Forget.
B. J. Nadilo, Mayor City of Holdfast Bay
Dr. Andrew Southcott Federal Member for Boothby
T. Whitelaw, President Brighton Sub-Branch S.A. Branch Returned Services League
